See more of the story

A Minnesota House Committee has voted to extend the moratorium on new nuclear energy facilities in the state. This just after the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a report stating the planet has probably passed the 2 degree Celsius threshold already. Thus, if we were to stop emitting carbon altogether right now, the Earth will still warm 2 degrees Celsius, nearly 4 degrees Fahrenheit. If we have any hope of preventing the catastrophe that 2, 3 or 4 degrees of warming will certainly bring, we must use all our knowledge, skill and available technology. Nuclear energy should be at the top of the list. No other emerging green technology can even come close to reducing carbon on the scale needed. Nuclear energy is safe, carbon-free, would provide tens of thousands of good jobs and can be deployed immediately on a global scale. This issue will come before a Minnesota Senate panel soon; hopefully it will exercise more reason and prudence. STEVEN BOYER, ST. PAUL